CFP: Tampa, Florida, is getting pumped

The College Football Playoff championship is being held in Tampa in January, and recently the College Football Playoff announced the calendar of events leading up to the big game.

Among the announced events is the 200,000-square-foot college football theme park (“Playoff Fan Central”) inside the Tampa Convention Center. The “theme park” will include football clinics for kids, pep rallies and autograph sessions. No mention of any football-themed rides. Hey, Tampa, it’s not a theme park if there are no rides. There better be rides. Just sayin’.

The event runs Friday-Sunday, with tickets ranging from $5-8.

There also will be a three-day music festival, featuring acts like Usher, Flo Rida and Cold War Kids. Former SNL member Jay Pharoah will be as guest host for the final night (when Usher takes the stage).

Former Florida head coach Jim McElwain has signed a deal to join Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan as an assistant on offense. McElwain is scheduled to start work Sunday and will coach the Wolverines' receivers.

Arkansas State has filed a lawsuit against the University of Miami saying Miami has refused to reschedule a game that was postponed last September due to Hurricane Irma. The game had been scheduled for Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Ole Miss has filed its appeal of the NCAA committee on infractions' decision to ban football from the postseason in 2018, limit unofficial recruiting visits and cite the school for lack of institutional control in a case involving 21 violations.